Meeting seeks solutions to gun violence in Pittsburgh's East End

Residents, leaders, police discuss ideas

State Rep. Ed Gainey talks about how to stop gun violence at a town hall meeting he organized.

John Heller/Post-Gazette

Alexandria Gilmore asks questions of a legislative panel assembled at a town hall meeting called to talk about gun violence.

John Heller/Post-Gazette

Sara Sachs, center, is among those at the Homewood-Brushton branch of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh listening to Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald speak about the county's efforts to deal with gun violence.

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The East End has a message: The guns used in violent crimes in their neighborhoods don't originate there.

Rather, they say, suburban junkies come into the city to swap M-16s and AR-15s for a fix.

"They're merchants of death," Zone 5 Cmdr. Tim O'Connor said.

Politicians, community leaders, police, state and national advocates and residents talked about this and other factors contributing to gun violence -- and in the same breath, ways to reduce and eliminate it -- at a town hall meeting Thursday night at the Homewood library.

State Rep. Ed Gainey, D-Lincoln-Lemington, organized the meeting.

"There is no magic wand to end this violence, but there are a whole bunch of tools," he said.

A panel of speakers talked about those tools to the audience of about 100 people.